TRADE AND HUNGER

[Mark Brown]

> TRADE AND HUNGER. Overview by John Madeley, 2000. Released by Forum Syd,
among other Swedish NGOs. The 77-page report is an overview of case studies
on the impact of trade liberalisation of food security.  The report includes
a description, overview and summary of conclusions from each study. To
obtain a copy go to : http://www.forumsyd.se/globala.htm
or  contact: Programme for globala  studier, Forum Syd; Box 15407; 104 65
Stockholm, Sweden.

Agricultural trade policy - as if food security and ecological
sustainability mattered
What would agricultural trade policy need to look like if food security and
ecological sustainability were the guiding principles for its design, rather
than economic growth and comparative advantage? A number of individuals and
organisations in the global NGO community have grappled with that question
for the past few years. They have produced a sizeable body of analysis and
ideas which is beginning to form a coherent alternative to conventional
wisdom, as expressed mainly in the present WTO Agreement on Agriculture
(AoA).
The paper is a review and summary of the international NGO thinking about
the AoA to date. It includes background information on agricultural trade,
key issues raised by the AoA from the perspective of food security and
ecological sustainability and conclusions and policy proposals. The scope of
the paper is quite strictly limited to the discussion of options for the
renegotiation of the AoA. It does not purport to be a general analysis of
agricultural trade or even of WTO influence on agricultural trade.
The paper, commissioned by the Swedish NGOs Forum Syd, Church of Sweden Aid
and The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, is written by Peter
Einarsson. The English version can be down-loaded here (requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader). The Swedish version will soon be available on this website.

Trade and hunger
- an overview of case studies on the impact of trade liberalisation on food
security
by John Madeley
In the discussion on liberalisation of the agricultural sector - through the
WTO Agreement of Agriculture and the World Bank and IMF structural
adjustment programmes - many NGOs strongly stress the point that there is a
need to assess the actual impact the liberalisation has had so far on food
security, poverty, ecological sustainability, gender etc. There are already
a number of impact assessments on agriculture and trade made by various NGOs
and UN agencies, small case studies as well as broader impact studies. To
facilitate use of this information already available, the Swedish NGOs
Diakonia, Forum Syd, Lutherhjälpen and the Swedish Society for Nature
Conservation asked John Madeley to track and gather as many as possible of
recent relevant case studies by NGOs and related institutions (universities,
UN-agencies) on the impact of trade liberalisation on food security.
The report (77 pages) includes:
- an index, also giving a very brief description on what each study is
covering;
- an overview/summary of conclusions that can be drawn from the studies;
- summaries of the studies included.
Published in 2000. The report is available here as a pdf-file. You can also
order a papercopy here (SEK 50). As a continuation of the report, we kindly
ask you to send any additional case studies that you know of or that are
being conducted on the impact of trade liberalisation on food security to
Johanna Sandahl.

Ref: http://www.forumsyd.se/globala.htm